ZAZ:Stop feeling so special. Long waits are not an exclusive Brooklyn thing.

Very true. Hell, I was out with some people after a work thing and they wanted to go to dinner at Olive Garden afterwards (it was a group consensus and I figured it wasn't worth the fight). We got there and were told it would be at least an hour to get a table. Thankfully rational thought prevailed and we just went to a brewpub down the street instead that had much better beer, better food, and no wait.

I'm not against no-reservation policies. It seems the fairest way to do things - the people that really want to go and are willing to wait can do that, the ones who aren't that invested in the place will go somewhere else. The restaurant doesn't have to worry about no-shows and empty tables, and diners don't have to worry about being hurried out of their seats to make room for the next reservation.

This sh*t is common in DC too. Many of the hottest restaurants in town don't take reservations. One of them I used to go to when the waits were only 45 minutes. The restaurant was above a bar, and they'd just text you when your seat was ready. So you could just go out your name in, then go downstairs and have a few drinks first.

Incidentally, I went to Dinosaur BBQ with my wife and some friends. we were seated in about had our orders taken in about 20 minutes. after 45 minutes of waiting for food, the waiter comes over, said they ran out of pork and would we want anything else. We decided to leave, but my wife raised a shiatstorm with the manager, and we ended up getting a comped dinner out of the deal the next time we are there.

These crazy farks that wait hours for these Cronut things are insane. Those farking pastries better cute cancer!

If you can stop by, put your name on the list, and then wander around town for a bit, grab a drink or two, etc, it's not so bad. Maybe the next big thing in Brooklyn could be a tapas culture - lots of little places in a neighborhood where patrons can walk in, have one or two small plates and a signature cocktail or drink, then go onto the next, with most of it being bar/counter service with maybe some tables in the background. You get some people together and hit up several places throughout the night.

Slaxl:The whole point of reservations is so we don't have to wait. Why needlessly bring that back?

Because making people wait adds the perception of value. Its like those stupid chain restaurants (Islands, Cheescake Factory, et al.) that always make you wait a little while. They're trying to make you think you're getting something your not. Why people would go to Brooklyn to wait in line is beyond me, however.

Benevolent Misanthrope:Yeah, THIS. Fark that noise. And I can almost guarantee you that what we "pre-eat" at my house will be better than what the restaurant is serving, though probably not nearly as precious.

My thoughts exactly. I made sous vide scallops pan seared in beurre noisette the other night. No reason to eat out, definitely no reason to wait two hours to do so, unless it's for something I can't (or won't) make at home. French Laundry or whole-hog BBQ come to mind.

I can see waiting 2 hours if I can have cocktails and a table while I wait, but that would be the only exception. No meal is worth that kind of wait unless somebody is making it at your house without a sous chef.

I can see pre-drinking before going to a club, because that's just good economics. We call that "priming the pump."

wee:Slaxl: The whole point of reservations is so we don't have to wait. Why needlessly bring that back?

Because making people wait adds the perception of value. Its like those stupid chain restaurants (Islands, Cheescake Factory, et al.) that always make you wait a little while. They're trying to make you think you're getting something your not. Why people would go to Brooklyn to wait in line is beyond me, however.

Benevolent Misanthrope: Yeah, THIS. Fark that noise. And I can almost guarantee you that what we "pre-eat" at my house will be better than what the restaurant is serving, though probably not nearly as precious.

My thoughts exactly. I made sous vide scallops pan seared in beurre noisette the other night. No reason to eat out, definitely no reason to wait two hours to do so, unless it's for something I can't (or won't) make at home. French Laundry or whole-hog BBQ come to mind.

So do you have a dedicated sous vide machine, or did you make one yourself? (SO jealous, I really want a sous vide.)

Slaxl:The whole point of reservations is so we don't have to wait. Why needlessly bring that back?

Reservations sometimes cancel, this prevents being stuck with an empty table.

The owners want to prioritize local customers who can just put their name in, then come back later, or patronize other businesses while they wait, either way locals who know the area will find it easier to gauge the line, the wait, and find things to do than people from elsewhere. They're also likely worried that if they open it up for reservations it will be all people from Manhattan booking it up, and then the locals will feel pushed out, which won't be good for long term business when the hype dies down.

These crazy farks that wait hours for these Cronut things are insane. Those farking pastries better cute cancer!

If you can stop by, put your name on the list, and then wander around town for a bit, grab a drink or two, etc, it's not so bad. Maybe the next big thing in Brooklyn could be a tapas culture - lots of little places in a neighborhood where patrons can walk in, have one or two small plates and a signature cocktail or drink, then go onto the next, with most of it being bar/counter service with maybe some tables in the background. You get some people together and hit up several places throughout the night.

(AssholeFoodieMode ON)

Tapas?

How early 2000s quaint.

You may as well go out for sushi.

(AssholeFoodieMode OFF)

I'm sure there are quite a few tapas bars in Brooklyn who haven't gotten the memo that their cuisine is nolonger fashionable.

I predict The Next Big Thing will be seating you in front of a retro-styled industrial fan that wafts the aromaof food over your table. For the reasonable price of $45.95 per person*

*Does not include 20% Service fee, of which only 2% goes to your server as a tip.

New York's hottest restaurant is SPEE-LUNK. This eatery literally has everything: Pork Knees, an Ethiopian guy who begs for your food while salsa dancing, and for dessert, they offer a tiramisu that you have to make yourself and then serve to other customers. Make sure you eat before you go, however, because head chef Carlos Dangeroux is known for his WILD OUTBURST as much as his Air-Grilled Salmon Flakes!

I never understood what's the incentive for a restaurant to take reservations in the first place. So a potential table just sits there empty bringing in no revenue while the reserving party is late and/or no shows? The fact that they have to take reservations suggest they can't meet current demand of waiting customers.

Treygreen13:[img2.timeinc.net image 612x340]New York's hottest restaurant is SPEE-LUNK. This eatery literally has everything: Pork Knees, an Ethiopian guy who begs for your food while salsa dancing, and for dessert, they offer a tiramisu that you have to make yourself and then serve to other customers. Make sure you eat before you go, however, because head chef Carlos Dangeroux is known for his WILD OUTBURST as much as his Air-Grilled Salmon Flakes!

wee:Because making people wait adds the perception of value. Its like those stupid chain restaurants (Islands, Cheescake Factory, et al.) that always make you wait a little while. They're trying to make you think you're getting something your not. Why people would go to Brooklyn to wait in line is beyond me, however.

We had a French bistro in town for a while that would give people a 15-20 minute wait when there was nobody actually in the restaurant.

My dad and I went to some place that supposedly had the "Best Lobster Rolls in Boston". We walked in and the waitress said with a straight face that the wait was two and a half hours. They also took no reservations.

We walked literally one restaurant down, were seated immediately, and ate some pretty damn good lobster rolls. Considering the ingredients are lobster and bread I can't imagine what might have been so much better at the first place that's worth waiting so long.

Talde chef Dale Talde insists his no-reservation policy helps the restaurant remain a local joint. "We decided not to take reservations because it was really important to us to make the restaurant a true neighborhood spot, a place where the locals could always pop in and grab a bite to eat," he wrote via email. "That's why, even when there's a two hour line out the door of people waiting for a table, we'll always escort locals right to the front and seat them immediately. We want to be a part of this local community, this neighborhood of assholes."